My Little Blue Heart
by Laragh
Summary: It's Smurf Willow, Tara and some others too!
1. Chapter 1

TITLE My Little Blue Heart

AUTHOR: Laragh

CHAPTER RATING: PG

DISCLAIMER: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise belongs in its entirety to Joss Whedon, FOX, ME, The WB and Upn. The Smurfs cartoon and original comic series belong to Dupuis, Peyo and Studio Peyo, NBC and Toon Disney.

SUMMARY: It's Smurf Willow, Tara and some others too!

SPOILERS: None directly, for either The Smurfs or Buffy

EMAIL:

FEEDBACK: Yes please

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So me and my friend were talking about The Smurfs and the idea to write a W/T version came about. This is the result. Completely kooky, and if you hate it, well, maybe tell me in private so I don't face the public humiliation. If anyone's an avid fan of The Smurfs, you'll notice that a lot of things wouldn't fit into the world of The Smurfs as it has been portrayed, most noticably that female smurfs are obviously more naturally occuring than in the series, naming schemes are slightly different and my smurfs are a lot more clique-y lol. Also for smurf fans, I've changed 'Gargamel' to 'Yennanther'. Let me know what you think!

* * *

"Papa Smurf! Papa Smurf!"

Giles 'Papa' Smurf moved away from the cauldron he was stirring and opened the door to his mushroom-house just as a figure went to open it, effectively making them collide into each other.

"Dear Lord," Giles said, picking up his glasses from where they'd been knocked off and focusing on the figure in front of him, "Jokey, dear boy, whatever's the matter?"

Xander 'Jokey' Smurf cringed at the use of his informal moniker; Giles was the only one who called him and his fellow smurfs by them, the rest of the village of Smurfydale going by their own, given names. Giles was a traditionalist though and insisted on using them. His embarrassment was instantly forgotten though when he remembered why exactly he'd come running all the way over there.

"Papa Smurf, I was in the forest getting the items you asked me to and, and..."

"Jokey, calm down. I can see you don't have the herbs I requested," Giles replied, slight irritation but an inherent calmness in his voice, "Tell me what happened."

He led the boy into his house and sat him down on a small stool, getting him a drink of water. Xander gratefully downed the cool liquid before launching into his story.

"I went into the forest like you asked, and on my way back I saw it. Roaming around, like it wasn't sure where it was going. It was a monster, Papa Smurf, bigger than anything I've ever seen before, at least fifteen apples high. It was so scary, I nearly smurfed my pants!"

Giles toyed with the end of his beard as the younger smurf spoke, nodding along with the story until he got to the last statement and shook his head slightly.

"No need for such vulgar details. But I'm very glad you came to me with this. Now, Jokey, I need you to listen carefully and answer honestly. Did the monster see you?"

Xander considered the question for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, I only saw him from a distance and ran right back. I'm almost sure he didn't see me."

Giles visibly breathed a sigh of relief and jumped up, going over to his bookshelf and picking out a book.

"Jokey, I need you to get Brainy and Gutsy and bring them here at once."

"Are we having another lesson, Papa Smurf?"

"No, dear boy, we're not. I fear this is a bit more serious."

Xander wasn't sure what to respond and Giles looked too engrossed in his book to notice if he spoke anyway, so he jumped off the stool and left the house, waving to the other smurfs he passed as he went in search of his friends, eventually located them sitting together on a patch of grass, his blonde-haired friend eating a bunch of berries and the other, a redhead, arranging hers in various lines.

"Willow, Buffy," he called, going over to sit next to them, "What're you doing?"

Willow 'Brainy' Smurf looked up and smiled at her friend as he sat beside her.

"I'm arranging my berries in the _Fibonacci sequence," she replied eagerly, "I read about it in one of Giles' books. It's so cool."_

_"And I'm just eating," Buffy answered, which wasn't a shock to anyone. Buffy 'Gutsy' Smurf always seemed to be eating, "What's wrong, Xander?"_

_"Giles asked me to get you two and go back to his place."_

_"Ooh, are we having another lesson?" Willow asked, jumping up in excitement, "I can't wait."_

_"Just come with me," Xander replied, deciding it would be better to let Giles explain._

_Buffy grumbled but quickly finished her berries, scooping up the ones Willow had been playing with and putting them in her pocket as she followed the other two along the carved pathway to Giles' house, listening to Willow babble endlessly along the way._

_"I hope he teaches us more about the _alchemy today. Do you think we'll ever get to see his lab one day, or even help make an elixir or something? Don't you just love learning? I love learning, there's so much stuff you can be trained in and Giles knows about everything, we're so lucky to have him and-"

Willow stopped herself from speaking as they arrived outside Giles' house and went to knock on the door. Xander decided to forgo the formality and just opened the door, walking in to see Giles in the same position he'd been in when he'd left.

"Papa Smurf? I brought-"

"Ah, Brainy, Gutsy, glad you're here."

Giles turned, snapping the book in his hand shut and gestured for them all to take a seat around him. He watched as his three young protégées. It had been Willow who had come to him originally, interested in learning whatever he had to teach and after a few lessons had brought her friends along and they'd started regular sessions where he taught the trio about the magical arts, a subject they all seemed to be interested in, albeit for different reasons. Buffy liked learning about fighting skills of different species, Xander liked learning about superpowers and Willow...well, Willow liked learning about anything, but had a particular interest in potion-making and spells.

"I'm not sure what Jokey has told you..."

"Nothing," Willow replied, her eyes going wide, "Are we not here for a lesson?"

"A lesson of sorts, my dear. But one that requires a lot more...field practice."

Buffy and Willow exchanged a confused, yet excited look, before looking back up at Giles, urging him to continue.

"Jokey was out on a collection for me this morning and in his travels came across an unspecified being of some kind. I've been looking through my books but I'm afraid I don't have much to go on, so I'm struggling to identify what it is. I need you three to go on a very special mission for me to today. I can't deny though, there could be an element of danger involved."

"Danger?" Buffy asked, her eyes lighting up, "What do you want us to do."

"For now," Giles started, looking each of them in the eyes individually, "I need you to take a trip back into the forest and try and get a closer look at this being, to gather what information you can. It is very important that this is all you do, do not try and apprehend it or fight it. This means you, too, Gutsy."

Buffy scowled but nodded her agreement.

"Then come back to me, and once we identify what we're dealing with, then we can make a plan of action."

"With kicking?"

Giles turned to Buffy and gave a small smile.

"Very possibly. But I can't stress enough how risky it could be if you go near this creature without prior knowledge of its strengths and weaknesses. Do you think you're up to it?"

Buffy jumped up from her seat, balling her fists.

"I was born ready."

Xander and Willow stood up as well, a mixture of excitement and fear evident on both their faces.

"We're in, Papa Smurf."

Giles smiled and went over to a shelf, taking a small bottle with yellow-coloured liquid inside and handing it to the redhead.

"Just in case of an emergency. This will blind whoever you throw it at momentarily, giving you a chance to escape. But I warn you to keep your distance, just get close enough to give me a description of what it looks like. And the most important part – if the creature sees you, make sure you lose him before you return to Smurfydale. I can only assume this thing is wandering around those forests in an attempt to try and find this village and we don't need you leading him straight to us."

"Identify; blind; no giving Mr. Monster a delicious smurfy lunch," Xander repeated the plan to the group, "We got it."

"Very well," Giles replied, walking them over to the door, "In the meanwhile I'll start preparing some basic elixirs in preparation, or in case the creature somehow stumbles into our land."

"But, Papa Smurf," Willow said, question in her eyes, "Everyone knows it's impossible to get into Smurfydale unless directly led by a smurf."

Giles sighed and shook his head.

"Almost impossible my dear. And stranger things have happened."


	2. Chapter 2

Willow accepted the answer and gave a small wave as they left the house and began their journey. They all walked in a straight line until they came to the edge of the forest and Xander began leading the way, since he had a better idea of where to look. After about a minute, Xander got a cheeky look on his face and stepped off to the side, pointing forwards to the girls.

"Straight ahead. Ladies first."

Willow and Buffy smiled at each other, then at Xander.

"You're such a gentlesmurf," Willow gushed as she pushed forward through large stalks of grass.

Xander grinned, before a deep laugh broke from his gut when the girls stepped and tripped into the furrowed hole he knew was there, having almost fallen into it itself earlier that day.

"Ooff!"

"Jokey!"

Xander winced once again at the name, especially coming from Willow as she only used it when she was mad, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to play a good joke. He had his name for a reason, after all.

"That wasn't funny," Buffy said, glaring at the boy as she stood up and dusted herself off, "I thought we agreed you'd only play jokes on the others!"

"But this was just too smurftastic to let slide!" Xander whined, his eyes still twinkling with mirth.

Willow pouted as she stood and kicked some dirt into the hole she'd just fallen into in annoyance.

"That hurt, Xander."

"Aww I'm sorry," Xander replied genuinely, wrapping an arm around both Willow and Buffy's shoulders, "I promise, no more jokes on my two favourite smurfs. Which are you two."

Willow looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding her head and giving Xander a reassuring smile and Buffy just rolled her eyes, signalling them forwards.

"Come on, we've got a monster to catch."

Xander began leading the way again and Willow pulled on the strap of Buffy's white dress.

"Buffy, remember what Giles said. We only look."

"Yea, yea," Buffy replied with an absentminded wave of her hand, "I know."

She knew this mission was strictly surveillance, but if the chance to fight came up, she knew she wouldn't be able to resist. She had her name for a reason, too.

"I'm serious, Buffy," Willow said, as if sensing her friend's thoughts, "Giles is trusting us. If we prove ourselves, we might get to go out on other missions too. We could be our own little smurf army. Wouldn't that be cool?"

Buffy contemplated the idea, and she had to admit, it did sound...well it sounded just smurfy. She was stopped from responding when Xander started jumping up and down silently, turning to them and putting a finger to his lips to indicate for them to be quiet and motioning for them to come stand where he was standing. The two girls quietly walked over, eyes widening when Xander pointed ahead to a tall, wandering creature in the distance, roaring loudly. Willow jumped back slightly, while Buffy got into a fighting stance.

"We need to get closer," Xander whispered after a moment, "I can only just see him."

Willow and Buffy nodded their agreement and all three moved on their tippy toes, getting gradually closer to the monster, hiding behind bushes. Luckily for them, the monster was so tall that his direct eyeline didn't meet the smurfs, so they were able to move with some amount of freedom. Still, they knew they had to be careful, all it would take would be a small sound for the monster to look down and spot them.

"He's huge," Buffy whispered in awe.

"I told you," Xander replied shortly.

"Guys, shush!" Willow said, taking in all the monster's features, "I'm trying to remember everything about him!"

The other two lapsed into silence as their friend stared intently upwards, her figure hidden by the large bush they were standing behind. Willow had always had an incredible memory and Buffy and Xander knew she'd be able to give Giles a perfect description if she just studied him for a couple of moments. They waited patiently as their friend worked, until Buffy heard a rustling from somewhere to the side. She poked Xander and curved her hand around her ear, pointing to where she heard the noise. Xander just looked confused so Buffy pulled him towards the sound, stopping behind another bush. Both their eyes widened as they saw another figure, one more similar in size and appearance to themselves, but one they didn't recognise.

"Look!" Xander whispered, pointing at her, "She's got something in her hands! I bet she's controlling the monster!"

"Well I can definitely take her on," Buffy replied, cracking her knuckles in preparation, "If we stop her, we stop the monster!"

"Let's smurf to it! I'll distract her and you smurf her from behind."

Buffy nodded and pushed the boy forwards. Xander carefully made his way over to his as-yet-unidentified-target until he was just a foot away and leapt in front of her, making her jump back in fright.

"Stop right there!" he said, forgetting to lower his voice, "We won't let your monster eat us!"

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Buffy let out a kind of tribal yell as she ran out from behind the tree and sprang onto top of the body, pinning it to the ground, "Who are you?"

The figure looked terrified as she tried to speak.

"M-m-my n-na, m-my n-n-name-"

"Guys, what the smurf?!" Willow's quietened, irritated voice came into the picture and Buffy and Xander looked around, "I could hear you from all the way over there and if I can hear you so can the monster! What are you even doing?"

The redhead walked into the clearing where the other three were, hands on her hips.

"We found the person controlling the monster," Xander said proudly, "And we stopped her."

Willow took in the scene in front of her and stopped in her tracks as she saw the apparent terrorist Buffy was holding down. She'd never seen anything or anyone so beautiful in her life. She'd also never seen anyone as frightened. She moved forwards and pushed Buffy off her roughly, helping her into a sitting position.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, running her hand along her soft brown hair in comfort, "I'm sorry about my friends."

"Willow, what are you doing?!" Xander asked in disbelief, "She could make her monster kill you!"

"Xander, if she was controlling the monster, he would've stopping moving when you attacked her!" Willow almost shouted, while still being wary of keeping her voice low, "And as you can see, the monster is still very much after us!"

Both Xander and Buffy looked to the distance, seeing the monster still roaming and roaring, and, scarily, appearing to be getting closer to them.

"H-he's not, he's n-n-n-not my m-monster," the girl choked out, "I'm a s-s-smurf."

Buffy was still wary and crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

"If you're a smurf, how come I've never seen you before?"

"I d-d-don't l-leave my h-house much," the girl replied, lowering her head and her voice to a mumble, "I'm Tara. S-shy smurf."

Tara felt a fingertip under her chin and raised her head, looking into the smiling eyes of the redheaded smurf who was still holding her. She felt a blush start to rise in her cheeks and ducked her head again. Willow frowned at the action, but didn't ease her grip on the brunette.

"Well, even if that's true," Xander said, joining Buffy in her suspiciousness, "We saw her doing something with her hands. And what are you doing this far out in the forest?"

"M-my sketch b-b-book," Tara replied, pointing at the pad and pencil that had been so unceremoniously dropped to the ground, "I c-c-come out here to m-m-meditate and draw and I s-spotted him."

"You were drawing the monster?" Willow asked, going over to pick up the sketch book and flipping through it, "These are really good."

"T-t-they're not really. I just thought it might h-h-help."

"You were trying to help stop the monster," Willow surmised, glaring at her friends, before helping Tara stand up and handing her back her notepad.

"Well if you were really trying to do that then you won't mind coming back with us to Papa Smurf," Xander said, narrowing his eyes, "Right?"

"O-okay," Tara nodded, "But w-w-we need to g-go now."

"Why?" Buffy asked, moving forward defensively.

"Because the m-m-monster just s-s-spotted us."


	3. Chapter 3

The three other heads shot up, eyes widening in fear as they saw the monster running straight towards them, eyes downcast.

"Run!" Buffy yelled.

All four took heed of the command and moved their feet as fast as they could, until Willow remembered Giles instructions and shouted out to the rest of the group.

"We can't lead him to Smurfydale!"

"The potion!" Buffy shrieked back, "The blinding one!"

Willow felt around in her pockets as she ran, locating the small bottle and turned around to face the monster.

"Keep running!" she yelled to the others, "I'll catch up!"

Xander shook his head at her.

"We can't leave you!"

"I'll be fine! Go!"

Buffy and Xander shared a disapproving look but knew they had to keep going and ran even faster, forgetting that they had a new addition in their group. Tara was thankful they didn't urge her to keep up as she knew Willow was going to need help if they both wanted to get back in one piece. The redhead was currently holding the bottle, trying to gauge the best way to throw it at the monster so he'd be blinded and not just have a small bruise where the bottle smashed against his knee or something.

"I can't throw high enough," she shouted at herself, still unaware of the brunette's presence.

That was, until Tara came up and conjoined their hands, making Willow jump back slightly and look down at their hands, confused. Tara just gave her a nod, and Willow felt suddenly able, like her ability and self-confidence had grown ten-fold just from the simple action. She nodded back and turned to the monster, who was now just feet away and threw the potion with all her might, the bottle landing squarely between its eyes, liquid pouring out and blinding it.

"Wow," Willow whispered, stunned by her own power, until she felt Tara pulling at her hand.

She snapped to attention and started running again, never letting go of Tara's hand until they were completely rid of the creature, somewhere on the outskirts of Smurfydale. They stopped to catch their breath and Tara noticed they were still holding hands, dropping hers from the redhead's in embarrassment. Willow was too hyped to notice and started laughing.

"Wow! Did you see that, I just smurfed it right at him! How did you...?"

Willow left the question open and Tara blushed, but remained composed.

"It w-wasn't me. You always had the p-p-power to do that."

"Me?" Willow asked in doubt, "I'm not powerful. Well, you know, except for people who say 'knowledge is power', I do know a lot, but I'm not wise or anything, not like Giles, that's why I go to him for so many lessons."

"Y-y-you're very powerful, W-w-willow. Everybody is, innately. Sometimes you just need someone to help f-f-focus that power."

Willow gave a small smile and kicked a stone at her foot.

"Well thanks for helping me do that. We should get to Giles' place; make sure the others got back okay."

"O-okay."

Tara started walking towards the direction she knew Giles' place was, Willow right behind her.

"Cute tail," Willow whispered as she took in Tara's figure ahead of her.

"What?" Tara asked, turning back around.

"I, uh, I said cute snail," Willow bluffed, thanking all the smurfs in the land that there happened to be a snail trailing alongside her, "It's a cutie."

Tara smiled at the small creature and fell into step beside Willow, trying to contain the bright blush she knew was on her cheeks as they entered Smurfydale, avoiding eye contact with the many other smurfs they passed. She hadn't walked along the village in a long time; her own house was secluded, with its own sarsaparilla plant outside that she got her food from, and she knew ways of getting through the forest without anyone ever noticing. She'd never been comfortable around people very much, so her isolated lifestyle suited her fine. They finally arrived outside Giles' house, Willow knocking and waiting patiently until Buffy flew the door open and wrapped her in a hug.

"Oh Willow! Thank smurf you're okay. We were about to come out looking for you."

"Buffy, its okay. We're fine."

Giles appeared from the corner, a questioning look in his eyes.

"We?" he asked, then noticed Tara, "Oh hello, Shy. I haven't seen you in quite some time. Come in, come in."

"Uh, yea," Xander started as everyone gathered around, "We met her out there. We weren't sure whether she was...well, involved with the monster."

"Involved?" Giles asked, shaking his head, "Shy, I should've contacted you when I first heard about this creature appearing."

"So you know her?" Buffy queried.

"But of course," Giles replied, "I know each and every smurf and smurfin the village. Even those who choose not to be as outgoing as others. And Shy here is quite well versed in all things mystical. You'll be quite an asset in figuring this situation out. That is, of course, if you're willing, my dear?"

Tara nodded, blushing as four sets of eyes landed on her. Her immediate response would be to run away to the quiet comfort of her own house, but she knew that if her assistance was required, she would give it. Giles had always gone out of his way to be nice to her, lending her books to read and even giving her a miniature potion-making set so she could practice the things she read about.

"Excellent. Now, Jokey and Gutsy here have given me some more information about the creature, but I've been told you, Brainy, dear, got a better look at him."

"Oh yea," Willow gushed, "It had orange skin and very large shoulders. And it had two big horns, curved around its ears. Tara drew some pictures, they're really good, they look just like him!"

"T-they're just plain s-sketches," Tara spoke up, handing over her notebook, "B-but I n-n-noticed a few things. I think Yennanther is b-b-behind this."

Buffy, Xander and Willow all sucked their breath in at the mention of Yennanther, the sworn enemy of the smurfs.

"Yennanther," Buffy hissed, slamming her fist on the counter beside her, "That evil-"

"Wizard," Willow cut her friend off before she said something else, "That evil wizard."

Giles flicked through the sketchpad and sighed.

"I believe you're right, Shy. This does seem like a Yennanther scheme. You know, these markings look familiar to me, too. It's quite possible we've lucked out and he's called upon the dark arts to conjure a known fiend."

"An uh, that would be lucky how exactly?" Xander asked, clearing his throat.

"Because, Jokey, if we know what this is, we can figure out exactly how to stop it. Shy, Brainy, do you think you could start looking through my texts and see if you can identify the creature since you both got the best look. Gutsy, we're going to need to go through some fighting techniques, in case your skills are required."

Buffy nodded and threw a few punches to the air.

"And Jokey..."

"Yes, Papa Smurf?" Xander asked eagerly, jumping off his stool.

"Jokey, I need you to gather us as many smurfberries as you can find. I think we'll be in for a rather long night."

Xander sighed at his seemingly meaningless task but put on a happy face and lifted his hand to salute Giles.

"You got it, Papa S."

He grabbed a small basket from Giles' shelf and walked out of the house as Giles and Buffy went to the corner of the room and began sparring. Willow went to the bookshelf and gathered as many books as she could carry, bringing them over to where Tara was sitting at the table and taking a seat beside her.

"So you know a lot about this stuff, huh?"

Tara nodded, getting a smile on her face.

"I always had an interest, and taught myself mostly just by seeing what the different herbs and stuff could do. I met Papa Smurf in the forest one day and he leant me his books so I could learn more. I've made a few potions as well."

"Wow, you're own potions?" Willow asked, enthused, "Hey, you didn't stutter at all when you said that!"

Tara's eyes widened and she ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I just noticed, is all. It's a good thing, Tara."

Tara agreed, it was a good thing, she'd never been able to talk to someone without stammering and the fact that she did without even noticing both thrilled and frightened her. Willow wasn't just any smurf, she knew that for sure, she was something special. She blushed at the thought and pulled a book towards her, starting to flip through it.

"H-hopefully we'll find it in one of t-t-these books."

Willow knitted her brow at the reappearance of her new friend's stutter but decided to shrug it off and grabbed a book as well. Quite a few hours later, Willow slumped down, banging her head lightly against a closed book.

"This is impossible."

They'd been through every text Giles had available, twice, and the closest thing they'd come across was a creature with the curved horns, but it was described as being a lot smaller than the one they'd seen and had been extinct for hundreds of years.

"Nothing?" Giles asked from the other side of the room, sweating from his mock-fights with Buffy that had taken up the best part of the evening.

"Nothing," Willow confirmed with a sigh.

"Well, I think we may just disband for the night," Giles replied, "There's nothing we could do, even if we did find him. Much too dangerous to go into the forest at night."

"Does that mean we can go home? To bed?" Xander asked, rubbing his arms.

He'd offered to help Buffy with her fighting skills in an effort to be involved as more than just an errand boy and had taken a few wayward punches in the process.

"Yes, I think that might be best. We'll all be fresher with some sleep, perhaps come up with a better way to approach this."

There were sounds of tired agreements throughout the small house as each of them got ready to leave. Xander was the first to leave, followed swiftly by Buffy until it was Tara and Willow at the front door, waving goodbye to Giles.

"Bye Papa Smurf, see you tomorrow," Willow said to the heavy-eyed older smurf.

"Goodbye Brainy. Shy. You've been a wonderful help today."


	4. Chapter 4

Tara gave a bashful wave as the door closed behind them and they walked onto the road in silence. She'd managed to avoid any awkward conversations with the redhead whilst they'd been researching, only needing to speak when one wondered if they'd found the creature. She wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not, she desperately wanted to talk to Willow, to know everything about her, to tell her everything about herself but her innate shyness was getting in the way.

"I'm this way," Willow said, pointing forwards, interrupting her thoughts.

"Me too," Tara replied in a whisper.

Willow's face lit up.

"Really? I'll walk you back."

"Y-you don't have to do that."

"Oh it's okay," Willow said, practically skipping along the road, "I want to."

Tara blushed, hidden in the darkness and walked alongside the redhead.

"So it's a shame we didn't find anything in Giles' books, huh?"

"Yes," Tara nodded, "B-but I'm h-hoping they'll be something in the others."

Willow turned her head in interest, her bright smile shining, even at the dead of night.

"Others?"

"Well, yea," Tara replied, fighting the urge to look down and instead meeting the other girl's gaze, "I h-have some more at home. I was g-gonna check them out tonight."

"Really? Hey maybe I could help. Two heads are better than one, after all."

"Oh..."

Willow mistook the brunette's hesitation as a rejection and quickly began backtracking.

"Or not, I mean it's cool. You're probably sick of me, we practically spend all day together and then I just go and invite myself into-"

"No!" Tara said quite loudly, startling them both as it was the loudest she'd ever been, "It's not t-that. I-I've just never had anyone other than Papa Giles over. But if y-you'd like to..."

"You sure? If I'm being little miss pushy smurf, you can totally tell me to get lost, I won't be offended."

"N-no," Tara shook her head and offered the redhead a smile, making Willow's heart skip a beat, "I'd like it. A-and the help would be good. I-if you're not too tired?"

Willow had perked up at the thought of spending more time with the brunette and any tiredness she had felt before had quickly dissipated.

"Not at all. I probably wouldn't have slept well anyway, knowing we weren't any closer to finding this thing."

"I k-know how you feel," Tara replied, before stepping off to the side, "This is m-my place."

She opened the door and stepped aside to allow Willow in, pleasantly surprised at herself when she wasn't consumed with overwhelming feelings of anxiety she expected to get in such a situation.

"Wow," Willow replied as she entered the abode, "Your house is so pretty. Mine is just your basic table-and-bed kinda place."

She looked around the small one-roomed home - a staircase off to the side that she presumed, like her house, let to the bedroom – jars with various contents littered around on numerous shelves that were nailed to the wall, most having some collection of books on them as well. Her attention was pulled off to the side by a series of bright lights appeared to be floating by the window.

"Whoa, Tara, how did you do this?"

Tara walked over and stood beside the redhead.

"Mother Nature," Tara replied, proud that she'd managed to consciously not stutter, "Those are fireflies. I hang honeysuckle from the ceiling and the fireflies surround them almost every night. They're attracted to the scent."

Willow raised her eyebrow slightly at the brunette's ability to speak again without stuttering but wasn't about to risk mentioning it, not after the last time. She was just glad her new friend seemed to be getting more comfortable with her. She looked more intently at the lights and saw that there was indeed a small sprig hanging inside each of the luminous suspensions, before turning back to Tara.

"It's so beautiful."

Tara smiled at the glowing bugs, missing the look Willow was giving her and nodded.

"Nature generally is," she said, before looking over at the table, "I'll get the books. Do you want anything?"

"Just knowledge to absorb," Willow replied, tottering over to the table and sitting on a stool.

Tara made a couple of trips back and forth between her shelves and the table, gathering all her texts before taking a seat beside Willow, putting them in much the same position they had been in at Giles', except now Tara was a lot more comfortable with how close they were.

"I'll start with this one," Tara said, pulling what was essentially an encyclopaedia of well-known demons towards her, "Do you remember what it looked like?"

"I think his ugly face will be embedded in my brain forever," Willow responded with a small shudder.

Tara moved her hand up and rubbed the redhead's shoulder comfortingly, surprising herself once again with how confident she was getting. She knew that if Papa Smurf or even Xander or Buffy were there, she'd probably be reduced to a stuttering mess all over again, but Willow was putting her completely at ease. And apparently she was putting her new friend at ease as well, because she leant into the touch with a smile on her face before taking a book herself.

"Forest Fiends," she read off the title, "Well this seems like it could be a good one."

"Can you see okay?" Tara asked softly.

"Yea," Willow nodded with a smile, "Your fireflies are doing a great job."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, the only sound the flicking through pages and soft sighs when they'd complete a book with no results. Willow was on her third text, her eyes drooping significantly and errant yawns escaping her mouth. Tara noticed and was about to suggest they call it a night when the redhead practically leapt out of her seat, squealing with excitement.

"Tara, Tara, this is it! A Fyarl! It looks exactly like him! And it says here that they can be summoned and controlled by more powerful beings, so it totally fits the theory that it's Yennanther!"

Tara dragged the book over to her, the other girl rocking on the balls of her feet, reading over her shoulder.

"This is him exactly, Willow," Tara said, spinning in her seat, "You found him!"

"We found him!" Willow replied, thrusting her body forward and embracing her brunette friend without thinking.

Tara stiffened at the contact, completely unused to it, but quickly found she enjoyed it immensely and hugged right back, squeezing the redhead tight. They separated after a moment and stared at each, a kind of heavy tension in the air.

"Should we call Giles?" Willow asked after a moment, "Tell him?"

"I don't think so," Tara shook her head, "He's probably asleep and there's nothing we could do at this hour anyway. We can just tell him in the morning.

"Right," Willow nodded, "I, um...I guess I should get home to bed. It's pretty late. I'd say we're probably the only smurfs in Smurfydale that are still awake."

"You could just stay here."

Tara's eyes went wide at her own boldness, she had no idea what came over her, but by the look on Willow's face the offer wasn't completely unwelcome.

"Yea? That'd be good. 'Cause, you know, it's dark out there and I'm pretty tired from all that reading."

"O-of course," Tara replied, "The bed's big enough for two."

She blushed even as she said the words but managed to hold the redhead's gaze and nodded towards the stairs. Willow smiled and turned towards the staircase, walking up the twisty steps with Tara at her heels following her. The room was dark, but there was a small amount of light coming up from downstairs which let them make out the basic features of the room and each other.

"Do you want a sleeping hat?"

Tara opened a drawer and pulled out two sleeping hats from her drawer, the same in style as the hats they wore during the day but with a fluffy bauble on top.

"Thanks," Willow replied as she took the hate offered to her and replaced it with the one on her head.

Tara replaced her own hat modestly, her back turned to Willow before spinning back around and throwing back the blanket on her bed. She shyly climbed in and felt her heart begin to beat faster as Willow slipped in beside her. They were both lying on their backs, only a couple of inches between their bodies. Both sets of hands rested above the covers and there was a silence between them for a moment until Willow turned her head with a small smile.

"'Night Tara. I'm glad we met today."

"Goodnight, Willow. I'm glad we did too."


	5. Chapter 5

Willow felt warm. She felt warm and cosy there was something in her arms that felt very right being there. She fought the consciousness that was trying to seep into her for as long as she could until she eventually had to give in and fluttered her eyes open, surprised when she was met by a mop of something soft and brunette in front of her. She pulled back slightly and her eyes widened as she saw it was Tara's hair that had met her awakening, and that it was Tara's body that her arms were wrapped around. She'd apparently manoeuvred herself into this position during the night.

She felt herself begin to panic at the thought, she'd completely invaded her friend's personal space and probably made her completely uncomfortable. She breathed a sigh of relief when she looked around and saw Tara still soundly asleep and quickly, but quietly pulled her arms away from the body they were holding, trying to ignore the ache she felt as she did so and got out of the bed, replacing her night hat with her day one in quick succession before rushing towards the staircase. She turned back for a moment, getting a strange fluttering feeling in her heart at the sight of the peacefully sleeping Tara before hurrying down the stairs and out the door. She wasn't sure where she was going, much less what she was feeling but found herself outside Giles' door, knocking gently.

"Oh, hello, Brainy," Giles said with a smile as he opened the door, "I didn't expect you all so early. Oh, is it just you?"

"Um, yea," Willow replied, looking anywhere but at Giles, "Sorry. I probably woke you. I'll just go."

"Not at all, my dear, come in, come in," Giles put a hand on Willow's shoulder comfortingly as she entered his house and let her to an armchair he had in the corner, sitting her in before taking a seat alongside her in another chair, "Something tells me you're in a bit of a bother about something."

Willow looked up into Giles' eyes and her resolve crumbled.

"Oh Papa Smurf, I don't know what to do. I don't even know what's happening. I'm feeling all these things I've never felt before and it's scaring me."

"Ah," Giles replied, a knowing smile on his face, "This wouldn't have anything at all to do with young Miss Shy would it?"

Willow gaped at the older smurf in disbelief.

"You've been having feelings for her, feelings you've never had for anyone else before?"

"How do you know?!" Willow asked in astonishment, "I mean, it's like...I don't know, it's like I've always been happy, with Xander and Buffy as my friends and living in Smurfydale and reading all your books, but there's always been a piece of my heart that's been...well, kinda sad. And since I met Tara, it doesn't feel sad anymore. It feels complete."

Giles placed a hand on Willow's knee. He'd seen the interaction between the two the night before, he could see that there were strong feelings between them. He was the most perceptive smurf in the village after all, he had to be to be their leader.

"Brainy, you have no reason to be afraid of these feelings. It's quite simple, really. You're in love with Shy."

"In love?" Willow asked, something clicking in her brain.

"Yes, dear, it would seem that way," Giles smiled, "And I must say, you're quite lucky. Not every smurf has the opportunity, or even the capacity to fall in love, much less with someone who loves them back."

Willow's head shot up, her smile wide and bright.

"You think she loves me?"

"I would think so, yes," Giles replied, though he was pretty certain of the fact that she was, "But I think this is a conversation you need to be having with Shy." 

"Right," Willow nodded, her brain processing everything, "Oh thank you, Papa Smurf, thank you!"

Willow flung herself at the older smurf and Giles embraced his young charge warmly, happy he was able to help her figure herself out, though he was sure she would've come to the same conclusion in her own time had she needed to, they did call her Brainy for a reason. They were interrupted from their embrace as the front door swung open and Buffy bounded in, followed closely behind by Xander and a downcast-looking Tara carrying a book.

"Look who we found on our way," Xander said with a smile, patting Tara on the back, "And she says she found the monster!"

"W-willow found it," Tara corrected, still looking down.

"It was a joint effort," Willow responded, going over and putting a hand on Tara's shoulder, but the brunette shrugged her off, "Tara?"

Tara refused to meet the redhead's gaze and instead walked over to the table, opening the book in her hand to the right page and placing it there.

"Th-this is it."

Giles scoured the page, nodding and murmuring as he went through it, at the same time as Xander walked over to Tara.

"Hey, Tara. I never apologised. You know, for yesterday? For thinking you were involved with the monster."

"And for jumping on you," Buffy added, joining the group around the table, "We're really sorry."

"I-it's okay," Tara replied with a small smile, "Y-you were just pr-protecting the v-village. It's g-good Smurfydale has s-smurfs like you."

"And you," Willow added, trying once again to get Tara's attention on her, "We never would've been able to figure who the monster was without your drawings."

Tara cast her eyes downwards again, making Willow frown. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, what had happened to make her new friend be withdrawing from her so much, but she knew she wanted it to stop. She was stopped from doing anything though by Giles slamming the book shut, startling all of them.

"We were right in our theory that it was Yennanther. There's no other wizard with the power to summon such a creature as this Fyarl. Brainy, you had to use the blinding potion I gave you yesterday, correct?"

"Um, yea, Papa Smurf," Willow replied absently, still frowning at Tara, "So we could get away."

"Right. Well, if I know Yennanther, and I think I do," Giles sighed for a moment as he remembered how he and Yennanther had done some magical training together before his counterpart had turned to the dark arts, "He would have called the Fyarl back to him to recuperate before he sent it out again. Which means both him and the creature will be at his lair. Now, we'll need to be quick, but if we can get to the lair we can destroy the creature before he begins roaming through our forests again."

"Uh huh," Xander nodded, clapping his hands together, "And how exactly do we destroy the monster?"

"With this," Giles replied, going over to one of his drawers and pulling out a sword.

Buffy stepped forward and grabbed the sword from Giles, swinging it around with expert skill

"Whoa!" Xander replied, backing away quickly, "Watch what you do with that thing."

"This is made from pure silver," Giles said, taking the sword back, "According to the text, that is the only thing that will kill the creature. I'm afraid we still face a small problem with the creature's height. I fear simply digging this into wherever we can reach won't be enough to slaughter him."

"Um..." Tara shyly reached into her pocket and producing a vial with a green liquid inside, "I m-made this quickly this m-morning. I d-don't k-know if...it's a s-s-shrinking p-potion."

"Genius, dear girl!" Giles said proudly, "This is perfect. We make the creature our size and we can stab him where required."

"Nice thinking, Tara," Xander complimented, making Tara blush.

"We need to leave if we want to get to Yennanther's in time. It'll take us at least a couple of hours to walk there."

"Quite right," Giles replied, going over to his shelf and discreetly pocketing a vial of red-coloured liquid and one that was blue, "Time is of the essence in this case, I believe we're going to need to use quicker methods."

"Do you mean...?" Xander left his question open excitedly.

"Indeed I do. We'll have to use the storks."


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay, Xander, Willow, you get on here with me," Buffy said as she got on the back of one of the two storks waiting on them, "Papa Smurf, you go with Tara."

"Oh y-you don't n-need me," Tara tried to protest, "I-I'll just g-get in the way."

"Nonsense," Buffy scoffed playfully, "More hands we have the better. Besides, you're one of the gang now."

"I'd listen to her," Giles said with a smile, "She can be quite the stubborn smurf."

Tara ducked her head but climbed on the stork with Giles. Willow looked at her longingly, kicking herself for not protesting their flying arrangements so she could've been with the brunette. It was too late now, though, they were already ascending into the air. Besides she wasn't sure Tara would've welcomed her company. The other smurf had been doing everything she could to avoid her the entire morning. She was starting to think that Giles had been completely wrong in his assessment, sure, she knew that she loved Tara but if the other smurfs actions were anything to go by, the feeling definitely wasn't mutual. She sighed at the realisation but had to put all her thoughts and feelings to the side as they landed near Yennanther's lair. They had a monster to stop, and focusing on that had to come first.

"I don't know why we don't travel by stork the whole time," Buffy said as she slipped off the bird and gave it a quick pat down, "It sure beats wearing out the soles of these shoes."

"The storks are most courteous by allowing us their time as it is," Giles replied curtly, "We won't be abusing that courtesy."

"Okay, okay," Buffy said, defensively, "Where's Yennanther's lair?"

"Just around this corner," Giles responded, rounding said corner to reveal a run-down looking old church.

"He really takes no pride in appearances, does he?" Willow asked.

"You've seen him before, Brainy," Giles answered, deadpan, "I'd think it's quite obvious he doesn't."

The other four all exchanged a surprised look at their normally respectful and polite leader's comment, but shrugged it off. They were all aware the elder smurf had a history with their arch nemesis.

"We need a plan," Willow said after a moment, "We can't just go smurfing on in there."

"Quite right," Giles replied, turning to the group, "Gutsy, you're by far the strongest of us all, I need you to restrain Yennanther while we go after the creature. I need to have a little word with my old friend."

Buffy nodded her understanding and began stretching in preparation.

"Brainy, Shy, you have the most familiarity with the creature, I need you to use the shrinking potion on him. To do this, though, Jokey, you're going to need to distract him so they have the opportunity."

"Distract him," Xander nodded, smiling at the plan, "Got it, Papa S."

"And Gutsy," Giles said, turning to Buffy and handing out the sword, "When the time comes, you'll know how and when to use this."

Buffy took the sword and held it reverently in her hands for a moment before putting it down her back, using the neckline of her dress to hold the handle in place.

"Are we all ready?"

There was a series of nods around the group and Buffy grinned, stepping forward to lead the group towards the abandoned-looking structure. She took a few deep breathes as everyone gathered behind her, bringing a hand up and holding three fingers up, putting them down one at a time to indicate their timeframe and burst through the front door as she put her last finger down.

"What in-"

Yennanther - an older man, considerably taller than all the smurfs with sandy hair and beard to match, in black robes – spun in his place, spluttering for a moment before Buffy launched herself at him, attacking his face.

"Go, go!" she yelled at the rest of them, Yennanther's height making it difficult to keep him down and she could see the monster had entered the room.

Tara scrambled in her pockets for the potion and grabbed it, just in time for the Fyarl to wave his arm and knock her to the ground.

"Tara!" Willow yelled, running over to her friend, checking her over, "Are you okay?"

Xander noticed the fallen smurf and started jumping up and down in front of the monster.

"Yo, ugly! Yea, ugly, over here!"

The monster turned towards the noise and roared, reaching down and picking Xander up with two fingers.

"Holy smurf," Xander gulped as he was brought up in front of the Fyarl's face, "Willow! You could throw that potion anytime now!"

Willow turned at the sound of her distressed friend's voice and began panicking, looking between him and the passed out Tara on the floor. Acting quickly she scampered over to where the potion had rolled out of Tara's hand and picked it up, attempting to aim it at him, before finding she was having the same trouble she'd had the day before with the blinding potion.

"Willow."

Willow turned at the sound of her voice, a relieved look going over her face when she saw it was Tara who had spoken it, still lying on the floor, her eyes glassy from the floor. The brunette silently held her hand out and Willow immediately understood, locking their fingers together and throwing the potion, hitting the creature in the chest. He immediately began shrinking, dropping Xander in his confusion, who scarpered over to his friends, relief evident on his face.

"Nice throw, Willow!"

Willow squeezed the hand that was still in hers and smiled.

"I couldn't have done it without Tara."

A few feet away, Giles, who had been helping Buffy restrain Yennanther, pulled the bottle of red liquid from his pocket and threw it at him. The dark wizard instantly went rigid and Giles nodded at Buffy, who understood the silent command and whipped the sword from her back, running towards the now-shrunken monster that had regained its senses and was going towards the other trio.

Yennanther looked completely puzzled by his sudden inability to move and Giles moved to stand beside his head.

"Stun potion," he explained, "One you taught me how to make if I remember correctly."

Yennanther, having regained the ability to speak, sneered at the smurf.

"So you caught me this time," he scoffed, wincing but trying not to show it as he saw his Fyarl getting hit in the chest with the sword and falling to the ground unceremoniously, "You know me, old friend, I won't be stopped."

"Maybe not," Giles replied, taking the vial of blue liquid from his pocket, popping the cork lid off and forcing the fluid down Yennanther's throat before the wizard had a chance to react, "I've been working on this potion for some time. Had it in stocks for when the opportunity arose."

Yennanther spluttered at the foul tasting liquid and tried again in vain to move his body.

"What was that? What did you do to me?!"

"I stripped you of your magical abilities," Giles explained, "That was a binding potion. The stun will wear off in a few minutes, you can clean up that Fyarl's mess yourself. And if I have anything to do about it, you won't be bothering us for a while."

Giles knew the binding potion he dosed his enemy with wouldn't stop Yennanther fully. The wizard would retain his knowledge of magical proceedings and potion-making, but it would stop him commandeering any other creatures for his use or use spells utilise spells for his own evil functions. Giles walked over to the other four smurfs, patting Buffy on the back for her skills.

"Well done, Gutsy. And the rest of you. That really was a group effort," he smiled at everyone before noticing Tara was the only one sitting rubbing her head, "Are you alright, Shy?"

"I t-think so," Tara replied, standing up on shaky legs, "Just w-winded."

Willow supported her as she stood up and rested a hand on her back.

"We need to leave before that stun potion wears off," Giles said, turning to see Yennanther starting to move his fingertips, "Brainy, you take Shy back to her house on the stork, I think she needs to rest. Gutsy, Jokey, you come with me, I'll prepare us some of my famous celebratory Smurf punch."

Gutsy and Jokey high-fived each other as they all left the old house, the sounds of Yennanther yelling "I hate those Smurfs!" almost deafening them as they boarded their travel birds and flew towards home. Neither Willow nor Tara said anything on the way back, but the redhead continued rubbing her back and Tara didn't try to stop her. When they got off the stork, Willow walked Tara over to her door and the brunette stopped and turned.

"I-I'm okay from here. I-I'm sure you'd w-want to b-be with your f-friends."

Willow opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again as she formed a thought in her head.

"What do you want?" she asked after a moment.

Tara looked completely bewildered by the question and hung her head.

"W-Willow, it's okay. I k-know you p-probably hate me and that I d-disgust you or something."

Willow looked crestfallen and moved towards the brunette smurf, taking her hand.

"What? Tara, why would you think that?"

"Yo Brainy! Heard what you did with Yennanther! We're all heading to Papa Smurfs to celebrate. You coming?"

Willow turned to the group of smurfs who were calling out to her and smiled at them but shook her head, thinking that news really did travel fast. They all shrugged, but continued on their way, looking quite strangely at Tara, and Willow realised it must be because, like her the day before, they'd never seen her before. She also realised Tara must be highly uncomfortable with them looking at her and protectively covered her, putting her hand on the small of her back again.

"Can we go inside?" she asked quietly and breathed a sigh of relief as Tara opened the door and stepped inside.

Willow closed the door behind them and walked them both over to the small sofa near the window, sitting down and indicating for Tara to sit next to her.

"You never answered my question," she said after a moment when the brunette hadn't spoken, "Why do you think I hate you? Or disgust you?"

Tara was blushing harder than she had ever blushed before and squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.

"T-this morning," she managed after a minute, knowing Willow was waiting for an answer, "I w-woke up and you were g-gone. I t-thought... I just t-thought..."

"Oh Tara," Willow shook her hear vigorously, taking both the brunette's hands in hers, "That was me being silly smurf. See, I woke up and, well...we were kinda cuddling."

Tara's eyes widened, her mouth going dry.

"And it kinda scared me," Willow continued, not noticing the brunette's distress, "But not because it disgusted me or anything. Just because I didn't know what I was feeling. But now I do."

"Y-you do?" Tara asked, dreading the answer.

"Yep," Willow nodded, cupping one of Tara's cheeks, "I'm in love with you."

"Y-y-you're i-in, y-you're..." Tara spluttered in disbelief, "B-but, but y-you can't b-be, I-I'm, I'm-"

"Beautiful," Willow finished for the stammering smurf, "You're absolutely beautiful. And I'm in love with you. I know I am because you fill my heart more than anyone ever has before."

Tara raised her head and looked into the eyes of the redhead beside her, wanting more than anything to believe what she was saying but still unsure.

"I do?"

"You do," Willow confirmed, "Do you think maybe...you could love me too?"

Tara felt tears come to her eyes and let out a low, happy laugh.

"I think...I think that maybe I definitely do. I love you, Willow."

Willow squealed with excitement and leaned forward to embrace the brunette, squeezing her tight.

"You love me! You love me and you said it without stuttering! I love you too, Tara, never doubt that!"

She pulled back and bit her lip slightly, looking down at Tara's lips and then into her eyes for permission. Tara blushed but nodded and soon after felt Willow's lips cover her own in what was to be the first of many kisses between them.

"Wow," Willow said when she pulled back after a minute, the flush on her face matching the brunettes.

She leant in for another quick kiss before bringing her hand up to her mouth and kissing her knuckles. She wasn't quite sure how Tara had managed to do it, but her little blue heart...well, it didn't feel so blue anymore.

* * *

**The End**

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed the fic and anyone who didn't figure it out, 'Yennanther' is an anagram for Ethan Rayne! :)_


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